Frank Rosenthal
Encyclopedia
Frank Lawrence "Lefty" Rosenthal (June 12, 1929 – October 13, 2008) was a professional sports bettor, former Las Vegas
casino executive and organized crime
associate. The film Casino
is loosely based on his life.
, and would often skip classes to attend Chicago sporting events. By the mid 1950s, he was working with the Chicago Outfit
. Chosen for his gambling ability, Rosenthal ran the biggest illegal bookmaking office in the US on behalf of the Mafia. Based in Cicero, Illinois
under the guise of the Cicero Home Improvement company, the Outfit and Rosenthal bought "contracts" from sports bribers to fix sporting events. After being indicted as a co-conspirator on multiple sports bribery charges, Rosenthal moved the operation to North Bay Village in Miami to avoid attention.
By 1961 Rosenthal had acquired a national reputation as a sports bettor, oddsmaker and handicapper and was frequently seen in the company of prominent Chicago Outfit
members Jackie Cerone
and Fiore Buccieri
while living in Miami. At this time Rosenthal was issued with a subpoena
to appear before Senator McClellan
's subcommittee on Gambling and Organized Crime, accused of match fixing
. He invoked the Fifth Amendment
37 times and was never charged. Due to this he was barred from racing establishments in Florida
. Despite his frequent arrests for illegal gambling and bookmaking, Rosenthal was convicted only once, pleading no contest in 1963, for allegedly bribing New York University
player Ray Paprocky to shave points
for a college basketball game in North Carolina. Once again to escape police attention, Rosenthal moved to Las Vegas in 1968.
, Fremont, Marina and Hacienda
casinos when they were controlled by the Chicago Outfit
. He created the first sports book that operated from within a casino making the Stardust one of the world's leading centers for sports gambling. Another Rosenthal innovation was to allow female blackjack dealers, which in one year doubled the Stardust's income.
In 1976, when authorities discovered that Rosenthal was secretly running casinos without a Nevada gaming license, they held a hearing to determine his legal ability to obtain one. Rosenthal was quickly denied a license because of his unsavory reputation as an organized crime associate, particularly because of his boyhood friendship with Chicago hitman Anthony Spilotro
.
Rosenthal married Geraldine McGee May 4, 1969, and while she had a daughter, Robin L. Marmor, prior to their marriage (fathered by Lenny Marmor), Frank and Geri had two children together, Steven and Stephanie. The marriage ultimately ended in divorce, with Rosenthal attributing the failure primarily to McGee's inability to escape her alcohol and drug addictions. After leaving Rosenthal and stealing a significant portion of his savings, Geri died at a motel in Los Angeles
on November 9, 1982, at age 46, of an apparent drug overdose. Her death was ruled accidental, from a combination of Valium
, cocaine
, and alcohol
.
which had a metal plate under the driver's seat (GM installed it to correct a balancing problem) which absorbed most of the force of the explosion. While nobody was ever charged, Milwaukee Mob Boss Frank Balistrieri
was most likely responsible. Balistrieri, who was known as the "Mad Bomber" to law enforcement, was heard via wiretap blaming Rosenthal for the legal problems the mob controlled casinos were having. Similarly, just weeks before the attempt, Balistrieri told his sons he intended to get "full satisfaction" from Rosenthal's perceived wrongdoing.
Other less likely suspects include Spilotro, and outlaw bikers who were friends of Geri Rosenthal.
Rosenthal left Las Vegas months later and retired to Laguna Niguel, California
. He was officially forced out of Las Vegas in 1987, when he was placed in "the Black Book
," making him persona non grata
(unable to work, or even enter) all Nevada casinos because of his alleged ties to organized crime.
After Laguna Niguel, Rosenthal then moved to Boca Raton, Florida
, and finally Miami Beach, where he ran a sports betting website and worked as a consultant for several offshore sports betting companies. He died on October 13, 2008 at the age of 79.
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Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
casino executive and organized crime
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
associate. The film Casino
Casino (film)
Casino is a 1995 crime drama film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Nicholas Pileggi, who also co-wrote the screenplay for the film with Scorsese...
is loosely based on his life.
Early years
Rosenthal was born in Chicago, Illinois, growing up in the city's West Side. As a youth, Rosenthal learned sports betting in the bleachers of Wrigley FieldWrigley Field
Wrigley Field is a baseball stadium in Chicago, Illinois, United States that has served as the home ballpark of the Chicago Cubs since 1916. It was built in 1914 as Weeghman Park for the Chicago Federal League baseball team, the Chicago Whales...
, and would often skip classes to attend Chicago sporting events. By the mid 1950s, he was working with the Chicago Outfit
Chicago Outfit
The Chicago Outfit, also known as the Chicago Syndicate or Chicago Mob and sometimes shortened to simply the Outfit, is a crime syndicate based in Chicago, Illinois, USA...
. Chosen for his gambling ability, Rosenthal ran the biggest illegal bookmaking office in the US on behalf of the Mafia. Based in Cicero, Illinois
Cicero, Illinois
Cicero is an incorporated town in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 83,891 at the 2010 census. Cicero is named for the town of Cicero, New York, which in turn was named for Marcus Tullius Cicero, the Roman statesman and orator....
under the guise of the Cicero Home Improvement company, the Outfit and Rosenthal bought "contracts" from sports bribers to fix sporting events. After being indicted as a co-conspirator on multiple sports bribery charges, Rosenthal moved the operation to North Bay Village in Miami to avoid attention.
By 1961 Rosenthal had acquired a national reputation as a sports bettor, oddsmaker and handicapper and was frequently seen in the company of prominent Chicago Outfit
Chicago Outfit
The Chicago Outfit, also known as the Chicago Syndicate or Chicago Mob and sometimes shortened to simply the Outfit, is a crime syndicate based in Chicago, Illinois, USA...
members Jackie Cerone
Jackie Cerone
John "Jackie The Lackey" Cerone was a Chicago mobster and boss of the Chicago Outfit, during the late 1960s. He was the younger brother of mobster Frank "Skippy" Cerone and father of lawyer, John Peter Cerone and husband to the late Clara Cerone.He was born to John Cerone Sr. and Rose Valant. He...
and Fiore Buccieri
Fiore Buccieri
Fiore "Fifi" Buccieri was a Chicago mobster and member of the Chicago Outfit who specialized in loansharking.-Early years:...
while living in Miami. At this time Rosenthal was issued with a subpoena
Subpoena
A subpoena is a writ by a government agency, most often a court, that has authority to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of subpoena:...
to appear before Senator McClellan
John Little McClellan
John Little McClellan was a Democratic Party politician from Arkansas. He represented Arkansas in the United States Senate from 1943 until 1977. He also earlier represented Arkansas in the United States House of Representatives.-Early life:McClellan was born in Sheridan, Grant County, Arkansas...
's subcommittee on Gambling and Organized Crime, accused of match fixing
Match fixing
In organised sports, match fixing, game fixing, race fixing, or sports fixing occurs as a match is played to a completely or partially pre-determined result, violating the rules of the game and often the law. Where the sporting competition in question is a race then the incident is referred to as...
. He invoked the Fifth Amendment
Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which is part of the Bill of Rights, protects against abuse of government authority in a legal procedure. Its guarantees stem from English common law which traces back to the Magna Carta in 1215...
37 times and was never charged. Due to this he was barred from racing establishments in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. Despite his frequent arrests for illegal gambling and bookmaking, Rosenthal was convicted only once, pleading no contest in 1963, for allegedly bribing New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
player Ray Paprocky to shave points
Point shaving
In organized sports, point shaving is a type of match fixing where the perpetrators try to prevent a team from covering a published point spread. Unlike other forms of match fixing, sports betting invariably motivates point shaving. A point shaving scheme generally involves a sports gambler and one...
for a college basketball game in North Carolina. Once again to escape police attention, Rosenthal moved to Las Vegas in 1968.
Las Vegas career
A pioneer of sports gambling, Rosenthal secretly ran the StardustStardust Resort & Casino
The Stardust Resort & Casino was a casino resort located on along the Las Vegas Strip in Winchester, Nevada.The Stardust opened in 1958, although most of the modern casino complex was built in 1991. At its March 13, 2007 demolition it was the youngest undamaged high-rise building to ever be...
, Fremont, Marina and Hacienda
Hacienda (resort)
The Hacienda was a Paradise, Nevada hotel/casino that operated on the Las Vegas Strip from 1956 to 1996. It was one of four Hacienda properties owned by Standard Motels, Inc., with the other three being located in Fresno, Bakersfield, and Indio, California. The other Haciendas also featured the...
casinos when they were controlled by the Chicago Outfit
Chicago Outfit
The Chicago Outfit, also known as the Chicago Syndicate or Chicago Mob and sometimes shortened to simply the Outfit, is a crime syndicate based in Chicago, Illinois, USA...
. He created the first sports book that operated from within a casino making the Stardust one of the world's leading centers for sports gambling. Another Rosenthal innovation was to allow female blackjack dealers, which in one year doubled the Stardust's income.
In 1976, when authorities discovered that Rosenthal was secretly running casinos without a Nevada gaming license, they held a hearing to determine his legal ability to obtain one. Rosenthal was quickly denied a license because of his unsavory reputation as an organized crime associate, particularly because of his boyhood friendship with Chicago hitman Anthony Spilotro
Anthony Spilotro
Anthony "The Ant" Spilotro was an Italian-American mobster and enforcer for the Chicago Outfit in Las Vegas during the 1970s and 1980s. His job was to protect and oversee the Outfit's illegal casino profits...
.
Rosenthal married Geraldine McGee May 4, 1969, and while she had a daughter, Robin L. Marmor, prior to their marriage (fathered by Lenny Marmor), Frank and Geri had two children together, Steven and Stephanie. The marriage ultimately ended in divorce, with Rosenthal attributing the failure primarily to McGee's inability to escape her alcohol and drug addictions. After leaving Rosenthal and stealing a significant portion of his savings, Geri died at a motel in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
on November 9, 1982, at age 46, of an apparent drug overdose. Her death was ruled accidental, from a combination of Valium
Diazepam
Diazepam , first marketed as Valium by Hoffmann-La Roche is a benzodiazepine drug. Diazepam is also marketed in Australia as Antenex. It is commonly used for treating anxiety, insomnia, seizures including status epilepticus, muscle spasms , restless legs syndrome, alcohol withdrawal,...
, cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
, and alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
.
Later years and death
Rosenthal survived an assassination attempt, in October 1982, after his car was rigged with explosives. He survived because his car was a 1981 Cadillac EldoradoCadillac Eldorado
The 1953 Eldorado was a special-bodied, low-production convertible . It was the production version of the 1952 El Dorado "Golden Anniversary" concept car, and borrowed bumper bullets from the 1951 GM Le Sabre show car...
which had a metal plate under the driver's seat (GM installed it to correct a balancing problem) which absorbed most of the force of the explosion. While nobody was ever charged, Milwaukee Mob Boss Frank Balistrieri
Frank Balistrieri
Frank Peter Balistrieri , also known as "Mr. Big", "Frankie Bal", "Mr. Slick", and "Mad Bomber", was a Milwaukee Mafia boss who was a central figure in skimming during the 1980s.-Early years:...
was most likely responsible. Balistrieri, who was known as the "Mad Bomber" to law enforcement, was heard via wiretap blaming Rosenthal for the legal problems the mob controlled casinos were having. Similarly, just weeks before the attempt, Balistrieri told his sons he intended to get "full satisfaction" from Rosenthal's perceived wrongdoing.
Other less likely suspects include Spilotro, and outlaw bikers who were friends of Geri Rosenthal.
Rosenthal left Las Vegas months later and retired to Laguna Niguel, California
Laguna Niguel, California
Laguna Niguel is an affluent city located in southern Orange County, California. The name "Laguna Niguel" is derived from the Spanish word "Laguna" which means lagoon, and the word "Nigueli" which was the name of a Juaneño Indian village that was once located on Aliso Creek. The population was...
. He was officially forced out of Las Vegas in 1987, when he was placed in "the Black Book
Black Book (gaming)
"Black Book" is the nickname frequently used to refer to a list of persons who are unwelcome in casinos. The name comes from the fact that the persons listed in the "book" are essentially "blacklisted"...
," making him persona non grata
Persona non grata
Persona non grata , literally meaning "an unwelcome person", is a legal term used in diplomacy that indicates a proscription against a person entering the country...
(unable to work, or even enter) all Nevada casinos because of his alleged ties to organized crime.
After Laguna Niguel, Rosenthal then moved to Boca Raton, Florida
Boca Raton, Florida
Boca Raton is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, USA, incorporated in May 1925. In the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 74,764; the 2006 population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau was 86,396. However, the majority of the people under the postal address of Boca Raton, about...
, and finally Miami Beach, where he ran a sports betting website and worked as a consultant for several offshore sports betting companies. He died on October 13, 2008 at the age of 79.
External links
- Official Website
- Nevada Gaming Commission's List of Excluded Persons now-defunct listing, from the Internet Archive
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